Parable from My Novel "Jesus J. Mohamed and Eternal Recurrence"

The Parable of the Guava Tree - once upon a time, in a kingdom close, yet far away, there lived a great and powerful king. This king was so powerful; that armies and nations of the world would tremble upon hearing his name. His empire stretched ten thousand miles to the north, seven thousand miles to the south, six thousand miles to the east, and twelve thousand miles to the west. His army was twenty million strong. He had more gold and riches than anyone else in this world. His wife was the most beautiful woman in the world; his daughter was also very beautiful, and his son was strong, cocky and handsome.

One expected day, his kingdom's meteorologist/swami (forward slash) pays him a visit. He tells the king to prepare his kingdom for a great and powerful flood. The king makes all the necessary preparations for this horrible storm. Most of the king's subjects had relatively nice homes, so they went to pass the storm in their homes with their families. The king's jester on the other hand, lived in a small hut, just a few miles from the king's palace. The king's palace was one mile long and also 100% waterproof. The village where the jester lived at was so below par, that the jester pleaded with the king to house him and his family during this horrid storm. The king was very goodhearted, and told the jester not to worry, for he and his family could stay in his palace until the storm passed. Two days later, while the storm is taking place, the jester chatted with the king. "You're not only powerful and wise my king, but kind hearted as well," the jester said. "And you, you make me laugh," the king replied to the jester. "I'm going to prove to you, that even though you are the most powerful and richest amongst all the kings that have graced our world, the best things in life are actually free," the jester said. "Silly clown, everything I own has come with a price. Be it gold, power, greatness, you name it!..." the king replied. "In all due respect great king, you're wrong. Tell me, what is your favorite thing in this world?" The jester asked. "I've many favorite things in this world of ours; whatever do you mean by that question?" The king answered. "There's something---something I know you enjoy more than just anything else in this world. Now tell me great king, and be honest with me. What is it that you love more than anything else in this world?" The jester asked the king again. "Guava---guava is my favorite thing in this world, I love the taste of that fruit more than just about any other thing I can think of at this moment," the king answered the jester. "Did you know my great king, that the ostrich size egg guavas I bring you everyday are free? I've never charged you anything for them. My small and humble village has a guava tree that's fifty feet high; it's the most beautiful tree around, no other tree can compare to it. My village, though poor and humble, has access to this great and fertile tree and its delicious guavas all year round." After the king hears this, he apologizes to the jester....

A few days after, life goes back to normal. However, the king wanted to visit the jester at his village, and he also wanted to see this wonderful guava tree that the jester so much admired and had talked about during the storm....

...a month later, the king finally decides to take a short trip to the jester's village. ...upon arriving, he says to one of his servants: "there is the guava tree, isn’t it magnificent--beautiful!" The king says. As the king looks from afar, he sees the villagers picking the tree's fruits, but in a rather sullen and morose state of mind. He rides around the village in his carriage and realizes that the guavas are being chopped up by the villagers, then mixed in with palmiche (chamaerops), blended with leftover food and used to feed the local pigs. The king couldn’t believe that his favorite and most revered fruit in the universe was being treated like garbage. Then all of a sudden, he sees the jester nearby and asks him: "How can you do this to my favorite fruit? I know you love guavas almost as much as I do," the king confronts the jester. After a brief silence, the jester replies. "My great king, I left something out in my story: My village and I cannot eat guavas, because, most of us suffer from chronic constipation."